This summer’s devastating wildfires in Canada triggered total carbon emissions in the Arctic Circle, far higher than last year, and the third highest after those recorded in 2020 and 2019, according to published data in the early hours of this Thursday by the Copernicus Atmospheric organization. Monitoring Service (CAMS). This organization monitors fires throughout the northern hemisphere during the boreal season, which begins in May and lasts until October. CAMS believes that Fires in Canada released 410 megatons of carbon dioxidea gas that contributes to global warming and impacts the health of the planet and the air its inhabitants breathe.

CAMS data shows carbon emissions linked to June-August Arctic wildfires were the third highest recorded, behind only those of 2019 and 2020, mainly due to high-latitude fires in Canada’s Northwest Territories. In Canada’s Far North alone, there have been more than 270 fires this year affecting 2.13 million hectares. And across the country, some 5,700 fires were recorded that burned an area of ​​more than 137,000 square kilometers, the same as all of Murcia, Andalusia and Extremadura combined. No one remembers a year as extreme or records as catastrophic as those of 2023 in Canada. And the consequences have reached the Arctic in the form of gas emissions and burned biomass.

Air quality

Detected for the first time in May, these fires remained active in several locations, causing human and material losses, as well as tens of thousands of displaced people. But they have also seriously affected air quality in Canada and other parts of North America. “The extension, persistence and intensity of these fires mean that they are already estimated at approximately 410 megatons of total carbon emissions for Canada in 2024″, underline the experts in the CAMS report.

This would be the highest figure for this country by far since the previous annual record recorded in 2014, with 138 megatons of carbon emissions. Furthermore, at the time of writing the document Forest fires are still active in several Canadian regions, the volume of emissions could therefore continue to grow. Currently, fires in Canada alone account for 27% of global carbon emissions from wildfires in 2024 (1,455 megatonnes).

The consequences of the fires in this North American country spread to Europe, “where the plumes of smoke produced by these fires reached”, according to CAMS. In fact, at the end of June, they entered the Iberian Peninsula and in Spain, the remains of columns of smoke were seenwhich left a strange feeling of haze in many parts of the northwest of the country.

“Wildfires occur every summer in boreal regions, with varying locations, intensities and durations depending on hydrological, weather and climate conditions. As temperatures rise and drought conditions continue, Devastating fires are more likely to break out like those in Canada,” says Mark Parrington, senior scientist at CAMS, highlighting the ability of this Copernicus service to monitor emissions from wildfires. “The movement of smoke is key to understanding the scale and potential impacts on air quality,” he emphasizes.

From Siberia to Tenerife

Other important episodes of forest fires during this last season are those which took place in Russia, more precisely in the Siberian regions of Omsk and Novosibirskand in the Eastern Federal District, even though Russia in 2024 is below the average of the last 20 years in terms of carbon emissions from forest fires.

The CAMS document recalls that several Mediterranean regions also experienced significant forest fire activity throughout the season. Between July and August, fires affected northern and central Greece, and emissions at this time of year were the third highest on record, behind those of 2007 and 2021. The Iberian Peninsula also suffered a major episode, which affected both Portugal and Spain. , including the Tenerife fire, the most devastating on the island in 40 years and which burned nearly 15,000 hectares.

The document also includes the catastrophic fires on the island of Maui, Hawaii, which left at least 114 dead and devastated much of this paradise island in the Hawaiian archipelago.